Hari Jeyarajan, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, has been chosen as the junior faculty winner of the 2023 Dean’s Excellence Award in Teaching.
Jeyarajan’s commitment to resident and medical student education is exemplified through his exceptional service as a clinical and surgical educator for residents. Since joining the department in 2019, Jeyarajan has created, tailored content for, and administered 16 cadaveric dissection courses highlighting specific areas of surgical training that benefit from hands-on surgical instruction.
Jeyarajan helped spearhead the refurbishment of the antiquated temporal bone lab by obtaining a $150,000 industry grant resulting in much-needed equipment and space upgrades. His vision for a larger multi-disciplinary advanced surgical skills lab will hopefully grow from these efforts.
As the director of Transoral Robotic Surgery, Jeyarajan helped develop a program for otolaryngology residents to receive a certification in robotic surgery. UAB is currently the only known institution to be working on this type of training model to help residents graduate with robotic certification as this emerging technology becomes a standard of care.
Jeyarajan earned his M.D. in 2009 from the Monash School of Medicine located in Clayton, Australia, and went on to complete three separate post-graduate fellowship programs in otolaryngology, including a head and neck microvascular fellowship at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine in 2016. His diverse and extensive training background allows Jeyarajan to develop and teach educational content that covers multiple specialized skill sets within the field of otolaryngology.
“Dr. Jeyarajan's exceptional contributions as an educator have earned him a distinguished reputation both nationally and internationally. He has revolutionized resident education in our department by creating tailored and unique educational programs, many of which are not available elsewhere in the country," says Bradford Woodworth, M.D., and interim chair of the Department of Otolaryngology.
Jeyarajan designed and serves as the head of the otolaryngology inpatient consult service rotation for junior residents, which provides them with methodical and comprehensive exposure to all aspects of the otolaryngology specialty early in their training. His mentorship and dedication to the Department of Otolaryngology’s residency program led to Jeyarajan being named Faculty of the Year in 2021.
“Dr. Jeyarajan's unparalleled commitment to enhancing the quality and consistency of didactic education for our ENT residents has resulted in significant improvements in their learning outcomes,” says Woodworth.